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Southwest Monsoon to bring rain to SLuzon, Visayas

A weak southwest monsoon may bring rain to parts of Southern Luzon and Visayas in the next 24 hours, state weather forecasters said Tuesday afternoon.

 

PAGASA, in its 5 p.m. bulletin, said the southwest monsoon is affecting the western sections of Southern Luzon and Visayas.

 

"Mimaropa, Bicol region, (and) Visayas will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms,"it said.

 

It added Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be "partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening."

 

For Wednesday, PAGASA said Metro Manila may expect temperatures of 25 to 32 degrees Celsius, while Tuguegarao City may expect temperatures of 25 to 36 degrees Celsius.

 

Angeles and Olongapo Cities may expect temperatures of 24 to 32 degrees Celsius.

 

Meanwhile, PAGASA said moderate to occasionally strong winds from the southwest to west will prevail over Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to opcassionally rough.

 

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest with slight to moderate seas, it said. — TJD, GMA News

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Philippines hopes to keep trade perks

The country also denied the rights of workers to organize because of the extra-judicial killings in free-trade zones, it added.

In a March 28 hearing in the USTR, Labor officials touted the progress the government has made in addressing these issues.

House Bill 1564 and Senate Bill 632, pending in the committee levels of Congress, seek to limit the assumption of jurisdiction by the Labor department in disputes to industries which provide essential services like hospitals and public utilities such as power and water.

"[The USTR] is expecting us to finish the issue of assumption of jurisdiction for essential services. It even noted that we are trying to explore a consensus in these kinds of labor disputes through department orders while a bill has not yet been passed, so there is protection for the workers," Ms. Baldoz said.

Meanwhile, the government has also set up new guidelines for the police and the army on how to handle labor disputes. It has also expanded the definition of extra-judicial killings to include not just political activists but any person affiliated with an organization.

The GSP covers 4,975 tariff lines, worth $18.5 billion, across 129 economies. For the Philippines, these include banana, sugar, edible oils, wood products, cotton fabrics, rattan products, footwear materials, ceramics and baskets, estimated to be worth $1.1 billion.

The current GSP program took effect on Nov. 5, 2011 and will end this July 31.

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voting procedures

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) shares some reminders on how to verify voter registration status and how to vote during the country’s second automated polls tomorrow.
To check voter’s registration, visit the poll body’s Precinct Finder at www.comelec.gov.ph.
Voting starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. in all polling precincts.
The Comelec has listed the voting procedures in its Voter’s Information and Instruction Sheet, which is being used in the voter’s education campaign.
Here are the voting procedures:

• Bring valid identification cards and proceed to your designated polling/voting center.
• Upon arriving at the polling center, look for your precinct assignment.
• Look for your name and sequence number on the list of voters posted at the door of your assigned polling precinct.
• If there is a queue, fall in line. Otherwise go directly to the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), state your name and sequence number.
• Give priority to pregnant women, the elderly, detainees and persons with disabilities. There must be an express lane for them.
• The BEI will verify your identity before you sign the Computerized Voter’s List.
• The BEI chairman will then give you a marking pen and a ballot placed in a ballot secrecy folder. Make sure that the ballot does not have any shaded ovals.
• Make sure that your hands are clean so that ballots will not be stained.
• Proceed to your voting area and start voting. Shade the ovals corresponding to the names of your candidates and party-list group.
• After voting, place the ballot inside the folder then feed the ballot into the PCOS machine. Wait for the words “Congratulations, your vote has been registered” to appear on the PCOS screen.
• Return the ballot secrecy folder and marking pen to the BEI.
• Have your finger stained with indelible ink before leaving the polling precinct.
The Comelec warned voters that vote selling is punishable with imprisonment of not less than one year.

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Comelec releases video on dos and don'ts during Election Day

The Commission on Elections released Wednesday its third voters’ education video – this time it is about what voters should do on Election Day.
                                   
Tina Tama and Boy Bawal, the two main characters in the voters' eduction video, joined forces in informing the voters what they should and should not do before, during and after voting.

In the four-minute video, Tina Tama initially told a lady voter to check her name on the list of voters and locate her voting precinct. The voter was also told to bring a valid identification card but not cedula and barangay certificate.

The voter should then present herself to the board of election inspectors who will give her the ballot, marker and ballot secrecy folder.

The voter told to shade the name of 12 senatorial candidates and one party-list organization only because over-voting will invalidate the vote for that position.

Tina Tama said the voter should use the secrecy folder when bringing her ballot to the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machine and while feeding it to prevent other people from peeking into her ballot.

When the voter successfully feeds her ballot to the machine, she will return to the BEIs who will put indelible ink on her finger.

Boy Bawal said it is prohibited to peek into the ballot of other voters.

He also reminded voters not to bring water or other materials that could smear the ballots.

He added that voters should not put drawings and other marks on their ballots.

Also, voters can bring their cellphone but will not be allowed to take a picture of their ballot.

Boy Bawal also asked the voters to leave the precinct after casting their votes.

In an interview, poll chairman Sixto Brillantes said only a limited number of people are allowed to stay inside the precincts and they are the BEIs, a technician and watchers.

“Very specific kung sino ang pwede pumasok sa presinto,” he said.

He also said media people are not allowed inside the precinct.

“Media, no way. Sa premises lang, hindi pwede sa loob ng presinto. Not inside the precinct, the room itself,” he said.

Brillantes said the video was the culmination of their voters’ education project.

“Ipinakikita lang natin what are the correct things to do and what you are not supposed to do on election day. These are just simple reminders on the voting process. Kailangan paulit ulit,” he said, even as he acknowledged media’s help in thepoll body's voter education project.

“Media has been very helpful, naririnig ko palagi 'yan, kung paano bumoto,” he said.

In the first video where Boy Bawal was introduced, he informed the public the prohibited acts and materials during the campaign period and on election day.

In the second video, Tina Tama taught the people the legal and proper way of campaigning. — LBG, GMA News

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Velarde endorses 3 more candidates

The White Vote Movement led by the Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai endorsed three more senatorial candidates on top of the six it earlier named for the May 13 elections.
In an event held at the Velarde-owned Amvel City in Parañaque City on Saturday, El Shaddai leader and the movement’s spokesman Mike Velarde announced that they were also supporting United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) candidates Nancy Binay, Richard Gordon and Miguel Zubiri.
The three were in addition to the earlier endorsed candidates: UNA’s JV Ejercito, Gringo Honasan, Mitos Magsaysay and Team PNoy’s Koko Pimentel, Antonio Trillanes IV and Cynthia Villar.
In exchange for El Shaddai’s support, Velarde said that the candidates were made to sign a “pledge of commitment” to always fight for the Catholic Church’s stand once they get elected.
“They made a commitment that if they win, they will fight any proposed law that is against the family and anything that will lead to the annihilation of the Filipino race and things that are against the Word of God, against the commandments of God,” said Velarde.
He said the White Vote Movement will also monitor the candidates they endorsed “so we can also guide them.”
Earlier, Velarde explained that the movement was supporting these candidates because they stood with the Church in opposing the reproductive health (RH) law.
Other groups involved in the White Vote Movement include Couples for Christ-Foundation for Family and Life, Catholic Women’s League, Focolare Movement and Bukas Loob sa Diyos.
Velarde said previous experience showed that some candidates the El Shaddai had supported in last elections voted for the RH law.
“I pleaded with them to defer the bill for further deliberations so the people may know the truth and yet when the voting came, they were there. Anyway, there is always a day of reckoning. We won’t get back at them but we will act towards the right direction,” said Velarde in his speech.
The candidates the movement endorsed have also been dubbed “Team Buhay” by the Diocese of Bacolod because they voted against the family planning measure, except for Villar.
But Velarde noted that since Villar’s husband, Sen. Manuel Villar, voted against the RH bill, “his vote can be considered as the vote of the wife.”

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